Selecting a Medical Illustrator

Just as all treating physicians and/or medical experts are not the
same, all medical illustrators are not the same. Attorneys typically go
to great lengths to ensure that testifying experts for their cases are
adequately credentialed, but many give little thought to applying the
same due diligence when selecting a medical illustrator. This can be a
big mistake because unlike many “professionals”, there is no basic
training, licensing, or certification process that is required for an
individual to call themselves a “medical illustrator”. Many less
skilled and/or less qualified “medical illustrators” market to
attorneys – perhaps because attorneys are less able to detect errors in
their work. For these reasons, it is the responsibility of the attorney
and/or medical expert to their clients to ensure they enlist the
services of a medical illustrator who is qualified to provide those
services.

Working with a qualified medical illustrator who has experience in
the medical-legal area can be a pleasant, enjoyable experience for the
testifying expert as these medical illustrators are able to read and
comprehend medical records, review imaging studies, and discuss
complicated anatomical and medical terms on a very similar level as the
expert. On the other hand, working with an un- or minimally qualified
and/or inexperienced medical illustrator can be a frustrating and time
consuming task that may require multiple revisions of drafts,
ineffective demonstrative aids, or even embarrassment during a hearing
because of the discovery of some error or inconsistency during
testimony.

It can be difficult to determine the qualifications of a medical
illustrator based upon looking at their artwork alone. A copy of a
résumé or curriculum vitae should be requested. One of the
most basic requirements that the résumé should show would include
graduation from one of the below medical illustration graduate
programs. There are several medical illustration programs in colleges
and various institutes in North America and across the globe; however,
only five are currently accredited by the American Medical Association,
and Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs.
Those programs include:

Medical College of Georgia - Master of Science in Medical Illustration

University of Illinois at Chicago - Master of Science in Biomedical Visualization

Johns Hopkins University - Master of Arts in Medical and Biological Illustration

University of Texas, Southwestern – Master of Arts in Biomedical Communications

University of Toronto - Master of Science in Biomedical Communications

Other criteria that should be evident in a résumé or CV that would
help demonstrate at least minimal qualifications are 1) Certification
as a medical illustrator as issued by The Board of Certification of
Medical Illustrators and 2) Professional Membership in the Association
of Medical Illustrators. Both of these require that the individual
possess at least minimal medical illustration training and skill
levels. Also, just as there are different subspecialties in medicine
which require specific and advanced skills and knowledge,
specialization in “medical-legal” illustration requires additional
knowledge and experience in addition to those required for general
medical illustration. For that reason, it is also wise to select a
qualified medical illustrator who is not only familiar with
illustration and medicine, but also has a significant amount of
experience in creating illustrations for litigation purposes.